034 Spiritual Entity!

In a dimly lit room in the Egypt region, five figures clad in black robes entered. They stood in silence, motionless, until a sixth robed figure arrived, sat in the room's only chair, and crossed their legs. The six individuals remained silent for a long time, neither moving nor speaking.

"Blood Dragon’s Arcanite Axe, Duan Chenfeng’s Blood Demon Ring and Katana, Outlets’ Divine Light Shield, and Gwen’s Phoenix Sun-Shooting Bow. Bring these to me within a week. You will receive 10 points for each item obtained," the figure in the chair said in a raspy voice before standing up and leaving the room.

One of the five robed figures, an arcane mage, conjured five chairs for the group. A short-tempered figure leaned back, crossed their legs, and said impatiently, "We’ve done so much for the organization, only to end up like this. I don't know when we'll ever be human again. Ten points for a piece of equipment? When am I supposed to collect 1,000 points?"

"Arthur, if it weren't for the organization, you’d be dead by now," the lead arcane mage reminded him. "The Master has already said that if you want to try, he can let you start immediately. The research is ongoing, and the costs are beyond what you or I could imagine. Unless you're willing to be a lab rat, I’ll tell the Master right now."

Upon hearing the prospect of being a lab rat, the one called Arthur immediately calmed down. "I was just venting. Boss, just consider it nonsense."

"Leave Duan Chenfeng’s Blood Demon Ring to me," a thief in black robes said, cutting the chatter short. His goal was to acquire Chenfeng’s ring; in his eyes, killing Chenfeng would not be difficult.

"Leave Outlets to me," a shadow priest said. Dealing with Outlets seemed simple enough to him.

"I’ll take care of Blood Dragon!" Arthur, the enhancement shaman, declared. While others feared Blood Dragon, he saw the player as nothing more than a child.

The arcane mage knew of Blood Dragon’s methods and realized the player had never gone all out, seemingly afraid of revealing his true identity. Dealing with an opponent who wasn't using their full strength seemed easy to them. The arcane mage had no issues with any of the tasks; he didn't even need to intervene.

The five had ample gaming experience, and their technical skills were formidable. In their eyes, the targets were easy to kill. The organization issuing such tasks likely meant someone had paid to acquire this gear.

Elsewhere, Chenfeng was leveling up while discussing the crafting of a rune sword with Stan and Outlets. Since he had started masquerading as Blood Dragon, he claimed to be busy leveling and researching equipment synthesis, occasionally sending proposals to them for feedback. Chenfeng’s current goal was to use his orange-tier katana as a medium for the rune sword, but Stan and Outlets felt it was unlikely to succeed. Of the dozen proposals Chenfeng had sent, they felt the highest success rate was under 5%, with a very high chance of failure.

The attributes of the rune sword and the katana did not align. The only benefit of the katana was its orange-tier status, which might force the rune sword to become an orange-tier item—a chance of at most 10%. However, if the katana were used as a medium, the resulting rune sword’s attributes would likely be poor.

Chenfeng sought their advice partly to maintain his Blood Dragon persona, as his sudden absence whenever Blood Dragon appeared would be suspicious. Furthermore, he wanted to use the Arcanite Axe to forge the rune sword. According to their analysis, using the axe instead of the katana would yield a much higher success rate, and Chenfeng needed the aggressive stats it provided. However, the rune sword required materials from three different branches—Evil, Frost, and Blood—which were difficult to combine. With his materials currently scarce, he could only experiment with different combinations and ask for their evaluation.

For the past two days, Chenfeng hadn't ventured onto the main map as Blood Dragon, focusing instead on frantic leveling. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. Chenfeng feared the "Cobra Organization’s" spirit entities—the most terrifying existence in the game. He had once cooperated with them; even their peripheral members were significantly stronger than him. He had only been able to work with them because his damage output was high. They were called "spirit entities" because they lacked physical bodies in reality; they were essentially the deceased.

They were Cobra’s most elite psychic assassins. Upon their deaths, the organization had transferred their consciousnesses into containers, allowing them to live on within machines. The organization’s research into human consciousness surpassed everyone else's, especially since their leader was a near-spirit entity themselves.

Chenfeng didn't know if these spirit assassins could gain physical bodies, perhaps by usurping others. He was certain they were researching it. These entities were rich in experience, whether in assassination or gaming, and possessed psychic powers. They were perfectly suited for the game, generating wealth for the organization.

The organization’s income sources were vast, and their gaming operations were significant, as the costs to run the organization and fund the expensive spirit-entity research were immense. Working for the organization was a necessity for these entities, as their very existence depended on it.

Chenfeng hadn't expected the organization to target him until he entered the main map and saw a familiar figure. It wasn't that he was afraid, but he knew fighting them was pointless. Winning against one didn't mean he could beat them all. He didn't know how many members the organization had, but he was certain they had at least four dual-ability assassins.

Chenfeng was well-acquainted with the Cobra Organization. Their base was in the Egypt region, and their contracts usually lasted a week. If Chenfeng could survive that week, they might change their tactics or forget about him.

Recently, Chenfeng had been contacted by a buyer interested in his orange katana. He remained cautious; it was highly likely the buyer was connected to the organization’s spirit entities, or was one himself. He had only had limited contact with them in the past and only knew a few members. If he remembered correctly, the organization had about five peripheral members, led by a powerful arcane mage.

Typically, Chenfeng kept the katana in his warehouse. If they wanted it, they would have to buy it. He wasn't in a hurry to sell; he wanted to trade for other items. Orange-tier weapons were rare, and this particular katana had strict limitations—it required a combat-spec thief and was best utilized by a specific hidden "Samurai" class in the Japan region. The buyer had been using this to drive the price down.

Under normal circumstances, Chenfeng wouldn't bother, but he needed to appear as an ordinary, greedy merchant to the organization. He haggled with the buyer, each waiting for the other to break.

"100,000 gold is a fair price, or I can pay you in cash. I believe you’re short on money lately, aren't you?" The player’s ID was "Cold," a female Elf Hunter. Chenfeng didn't recognize her, so he assumed she wasn't a spirit entity; they were notoriously poor at haggling and would likely delegate such tasks.

100,000 gold was a decent sum, but Chenfeng had sold his Talent Stones for over 60,000 gold, so 100,000 for an orange weapon felt low. He didn't need the katana and wanted to trade for something better. "I’m not short on money right now. Let’s trade. If you can provide orange-tier equipment, I’ll even add money."

The buyer couldn't possibly provide orange-tier gear; their goal was to flip his item for a profit. Even two years later, orange gear remained rare, possessed only by top-tier professional players.

"Mr. Duan, we don't have orange-tier equipment. If we are to trade, perhaps only a scroll will do." She sent him a link to a scroll. Chenfeng found it interesting, though slightly underwhelming.

[Set Synthesis Scroll]: Equipment scroll. Combines two or three set pieces into a single item.

"100,000 gold plus the scroll? That should be acceptable," Chenfeng knew the scroll was valuable, particularly for jewelry, even if it didn't match the value of an orange weapon.

The buyer acted as if he were joking. "Mr. Duan, this scroll is incredibly rare. We found it in the Third Treasury. How about this: we add 50,000 gold. What do you think?"

"Make it 60,000. You aren't short on cash, anyway." Chenfeng was satisfied. His haggling was merely to avoid suspicion. He knew the katana was worth 200,000 gold, and the organization would likely double that upon resale.

The deal was struck. They agreed to meet in District 25. Chenfeng saw that the Elf beauty was from the Brazil region. After the trade, she tried to invite him to level up together, but Chenfeng refused. Was she trying to lure him out of the safe zone? It seemed the "beauty" had more than one purpose.